


Come With Me (When the Sea Calls)

by Dirthera



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Goodbyes, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 16:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10193654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirthera/pseuds/Dirthera
Summary: Isabela is headed out to sea again. She doesn't want to leave Merrill behind.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kirkwallgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirkwallgirl/gifts).



> This was a joy to write, and I hope you all like it! Especially kirkwallgirl, who I got for wintersend and whose prompt became this fic! Hope it resembles what you wanted/what you imagined would come of it.

The day had come, the day Isabela had waited for for so long. She had longed for a return to the sea, for her captain’s life back, and now that Hawke had left the city after her confrontation with the Templars she no longer had a reason to stay.

Or, that wasn’t correct. She had a reason to stay. Merrill was a reason to stay. Merrill was always a reason to stay.

Isabela had tried to convince herself that Merrill was just fun, that Merrill was a sweet nothing, not something that could keep her in any one place for too long. But the time to leave had come, and Merrill was… so much more than that. The fact that Isabela hadn’t realized it was her own failing, she supposed. It was her being used to the way things were, being unaccustomed to people in her life being anything but casual. To feeling this way about anyone.

It had blindsided her.

 * * *

_Only days had passed since Kirkwall had gone to shit and Hawke had left. They were in Isabela’s bed at the Hanged Man, sitting naked but for the light sheets they had wrapped themselves in, the night quiet around them, their bodies sweaty and their eyes bright. Isabela had her hand in Merrill’s hair, loosening the small braids scattered around her scalp, as she did every night before bed. Merrill was humming softly, a melody Isabela didn’t recognize, and Isabela was… lost. Lost in her voice, lost in the feel of her hair running through her fingers. Lost in her presence, in them._

_The words were out of her mouth before she could consider them properly. “Come with me.”_

_Merrill fell silent, her humming interrupted mid-note. She turned, and suddenly Isabela was face to face with her, big, green eyes meeting Isabela’s own._

_It was too late to back down now, so Isabela looked her straight in the eyes as she continued. “You know I’m leaving, that I’m taking my ship and a crew and heading out to sea again. But I… I was hoping I could convince you to come with me.”_

_How was it possible that she felt so… soft? Whenever she was with Merrill, whenever they were close, she turned into one of those disgustingly soft love-sick fools she had always laughed at. It felt strange._

_Merrill reached out and cupped Isabela’s cheek with one hand, that smile like sunshine filling her face, melting every part of Isabela._

_“You’d really want me with you?” she asked, and Isabela nodded._

_“Of course. Come with me. Just you and me on the high seas.” In an abrupt motion that made Merrill squeal, Isabela flopped down onto her back and pulled Merrill down on top of her so they were face to face, nose to nose, almost smile to smile. “Can’t you see it? Captains Isabela and Merrill of the Siren’s Call, commanding respect above deck,” Isabela pulled Merrill’s face even closer to her own, so their lips were almost brushing, and grinned mischievously, “Having fun below deck…” She winked, and Merrill giggled._

_Their lips brushed for a moment, and Isabela could feel how the corners of Merrill’s mouth turned up, how her smile was lighting up her entire face, and then, how it… faded._

_Merrill pulled away, looking almost sad. “You know I want to. You know I would go anywhere with you. Anywhere you took us. But… my people. The alienage is in the process of getting on its feet! We’re electing elders, and setting up a proper community, and I need to be there to help. I was my clan’s First. I need to use what I learned to help them.”_

_“I understand,” Isabela said, feeling her smile turn sadder, though she willed it to stay the same. She was so proud of Merrill. This was the woman she had fallen for. This was the woman she wanted. Even if she wasn’t coming with her…_

_“But in a few months’ time, they’ll be ready. They won’t need me. I’ll make sure they won’t.” The smile that lit up Merrill’s face as she said that must have been the most beautiful thing Isabela had ever seen. “And then I’ll come with you. I promise.”_

_Isabela could feel her face break into a grin, and she rolled them over so she was crouched over Merrill, peppering her sweet face with small kisses._

_“You and me on the high seas,” she muttered into Merrill’s skin between kisses, her smile still wide, widening still when she heard Merrill’s squeal at a kiss on an especially ticklish spot. “It’ll be glorious.”_

 * * *

Isabela was standing at the docks, keeping half an eye on men carrying chests and bags of food and supplies onto the ship. Her ship. The Siren’s Call.

But she was also watching the crowd, scouring it for a familiar face. She didn’t have to wait long before a small woman appeared from the throng of people, and a smile spread across her face at the sight.

“Kitten!” she exclaimed, and approached Merrill, grinning all the while. They both stopped when they were separated by only a foot of space, and stood face to face in silence for a minute. Isabela drank in the woman in front of her, her dark, braided hair, the tattoos adorning her face, the big, bright green eyes. A pang of longing gripped her, even now, before they had even parted. It would only be a few months, but still. She would miss Merrill.

They embraced, and Isabela felt Merrill’s warmth against her chest, the familiar silhouette pressed tight against her, the familiar smell of her as Isabela buried her face in Merrill’s hair. This, too, she drank in, wanting the memories to be as clear as possible for the months they would be apart.

As they parted, Isabela reached out and braided Merrill’s hands into her own, linking them, connecting them, tethering each of them to the other.

“The ship’s setting out soon?” Merrill asked after a small silence.

Isabela nodded in affirmation. “We’re almost fully packed. It’ll only be a few minutes now.”

Merrill nodded her understanding, and they just stood there for a moment, taking each other in as the silence again stretched between them. Isabela wished she could capture the moment and put it in a jar, keep them forever like this. She never wanted to let go of Merrill’s hands, never wanted to go without her.

“I’ll miss you,” Merrill blurted out, and immediately turned a bright shade of pink. Her eyes turned downward, and Isabela smiled softly in response, leaning forward to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Merrill’s ear.

“I know, Kitten,” she said, her own voice softer than she had heard it in a while, and her hand left Merrill’s hair to lift her chin up. “But we’ll see each other again soon, right?” They both smiled.

Isabela had hardly noticed, but over the course of the few moments they had stood across from each other, they had both gravitated closer, eliminating any space between them. Isabela thought it fitting. She had spent her life orbiting others, having fun with them, never getting close enough to be affected by them. But now… now she was on a collision course, and Merrill was there, ready and willing to be crashed into.

Or maybe the collision had already happened, and Isabela simply hadn’t noticed. Either way, prying herself away, even temporarily, was proving to be more difficult than she had expected it to be. Of course it was. Everything was always harder than you expected, in Isabela’s experience. Not that she would have avoided it if she had the choice again.

“Have fun without me, will you?” Isabela grinned mischievously. “But not too much fun. Save some for me, right?”

Merrill blinked a few times. “What…” Understanding crossed her face, and she grinned through the blush. “Of course. And you too. Have fun. And… be safe, okay?”

Isabela nodded. “Of course. I’ll be here in a few months, promise. And you promise you’ll run off with me then?”

“Of course,” Merrill said, face soft, eyes soft, smile soft.

“Good.” Isabela’s smile matched Merrill’s, she knew. She felt so calm, so alive, so at peace.

Merrill’s voice grew quieter and her eyes more serious when she spoke again. “Dareth Shiral, emma lath,” she whispered, and Isabela leaned forward to kiss her gently on the forehead. She understood the words after so long with Merrill, hearing her speak the language of the people every day. _Safe journey, my love_.

There were so many words bubbling in her throat, but she couldn’t get any of them out. Instead she just looked at Merrill, taking her in. This woman, who had left everything she knew, who had become so strong and so good, this woman who Isabela…

A loud voice boomed from aboard the ship. “Captain, we’re ready to leave!”

Isabela threw a quick glance behind her and signaled her understanding, then turned back to Merrill, her thoughts interrupted but not stopped.

She couldn’t say everything that was inside of her, the words she would have to use had too long been called enemies. “Love” was not for her, that word would never be hers. But…

She pressed a short and sweet kiss into Merrill’s mouth, holding her close as she did. When she pulled back, she looked straight into Merrill’s eyes, stubborn and fierce as she did, refusing to look away, refusing to bow away from what she was about to say.

In very broken and accented elvish, the words left her mouth. “Ar lath ma, vhenan,” Isabela said, and Merrill’s eyes widened.

“Ar lath ma,” Merrill echoed, the words so much more fluid and elegant from her mouth, and smiled.

Another call from the decks interrupted them, and after making quite the rude gesture toward the first mate, Isabela looked right at Merrill again.

“I’ll be back, okay?”

Merrill nodded, and stepped closer to Isabela. Isabela wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, and for a moment they just stood there, Merrill’s head tucked against Isabela’s chest, Isabela’s face buried in Merrill’s hair.

Then they pulled apart.

Isabela took a moment to memorize the shape of Merrill, her face, her smile, her eyes, to tide her over those months she was facing without her, and then she turned on her heel. One foot went before the other, taking her step by step further away from Merrill, until she was on board, giving the command to set sail. She immediately took her place at the bow, looking back across the length of the ship and out to the dock where Merrill was still standing, meeting her eyes even across the distance.

She kept her eyes on Merrill until she could no longer see her, until they had gotten too far away from the dock, until they were gone.

_Until we meet again_ , Isabela thought, knowing she would have Merrill with her in only a few months, knowing she would be back for her soon. It didn’t feel soon enough, could never feel soon enough, but she could still imagine it.

They would be queens of the high seas; they would be royalty. Side by side on the bow, a hat each, arms around each other. Together.

Soon.


End file.
